Section B: Passages
Passage 1
Reducing the amount of sleep students get at night has a direct impact on their performance at school during the day. According to classroom teachers, elementary and middle school students who stay up late exhibit more learning and attention problems. This has been shown by Brown Medical School and Bradley Hospital research. In the study, teachers were not told the amount of sleep students received when completing weekly performance reports, yet they rated the students who had received eight hours or less as having the most trouble recalling all the material，learning new lessons and completing high-quality work. Teachers also reported that these students had more difficulty paying attention. The experiment is the first to ask teachers to report on the effects of sleep deficiency in children. Just staying up late can cause increased academic difficulty and attention problems for otherwise healthy, well-functioning kids, said Garharn Forlone, the study’s lead author. So the results provide professionals and parents with a clear message: when a child is having learning and attention problems, the issue of sleep has to be taken into consideration. “If we don’t ask about sleep, and try to improve sleep patterns in kids’ struggling academically, then we aren’t doing our job”, Forlone said. For parents, he said, the message is simple, “getting kids to bed on time is as important as getting them to school on time”.
Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Question 26: What were teachers told to do in the experiment?
Question 27: According to the experiment, what problem can insufficient sleep cause in students?
Question 28: What message did the researcher intend to convey to parents?
Passage 2
Patricia Pania never wanted to be a public figure. All she wanted to be was a mother and home-maker. But her life was turned upside down when a motorist, distracted by his cell phone, ran a stop sign and crashed into the side of her car. The impact killed her 2-year-old daughter. Four months later, Pania reluctantly but courageously decided to try to educate the public and to fight for laws to ban drivers from using cell phones while a car is moving. She wanted to save other children from what happened to her daughter. In her first speech, Pania got off to a shaky start. She was visibly trembling and her voice was soft and uncertain. But as she got into her speech, a dramatic transformation took place. She stopped shaking and spoke with a strong voice. For the rest of her talk, she was a forceful and compelling speaker. She wanted everyone in the audience to know what she knew without having to learn it from a personal tragedy. Many in the audience were moved to tears and to action. In subsequent presentations, Pania gained reputation as a highly effective speaker. Her appearance on a talk show was broadcast three times, transmitting her message to over 40 million people. Her campaign increased public awareness of the problem, and prompted over 300 cities and several states to consider restrictions on cell phone use.
Questions 29 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Question 29: What was the significant change in Patricia Pania’s life?
Question 30: What had led to Pania’s personal tragedy?
Question 31: How did Pania feel when she began her first speech?
Question 32: What could be expected as a result of Pania’s efforts?
Passage 3
Many people catch a cold in the spring time or fall. It makes us wonder if scientists can send a man to the moon. Why can’t they find a cure for the common cold? The answer is easy. There’re actually hundreds of kinds of cold viruses out there. You never know which one you will get, so there isn’t a cure for each one. When a virus attacks your body, your body works hard to get rid of it. Blood rushes to your nose and causes a blockade in it. You feel terrible because you can’t breathe well, but your body is actually eating the virus. Your temperature rises and you get a fever, but the heat of your body is killing the virus. You also have a running nose to stop the virus from getting into your cells. You may feel miserable, but actually your wonderful body is doing everything it can to kill the cold. Different people have different remedies for colds. In the United States and some other countries, for example, people might eat chicken soup to feel better. Some people take hot bath and drink warm liquids. Other people take medicines to relieve various symptoms of colds. There was one interesting thing to note. Some scientists say taking medicines when you have a cold is actually bad for you. The virus stays in you longer, because your body doesn’t develop a way to fight it and kill it.
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
Question 33: According to the passage, why haven’t scientists found a cure for the common cold?
Question 34: What does the speaker say about the symptoms of the common cold?
Question 35: What do some scientists say about taking medicines for the common cold, according to the passage?
Section C: Compound dictation:
You probably have noticed that people express similar ideas in different ways depending on the situation they are in. This is very natural. All languages have two general levels of usage: a formal level and an informal level. English is no exception. The difference in these two levels is the situation in which you use a particular level. Formal language is the kind of language you find in textbooks, reference books and in business letters. You would also use formal English in compositions and essays that you write in school. Informal language is used in conversation with colleagues, family members and friends, and when we write personal notes or letters to close friends. Formal language is different from informal language in several ways. First, formal language tends to be more polite. What we may find interesting is that it usually takes more words to be polite. For example, I might say to a friend or a family member “Close the door, please”, but to a stranger, I probably would say “Would you mind closing the door?” Another difference between formal and informal language is some of the vocabulary. There are bound to be some words and phrases that belong in formal language and others that are informal. Let’s say that I really like soccer. If I am talking to my friend, I might say “I am just crazy about soccer”, but if I were talking to my boss, I would probably say “I really enjoy soccer”.
